Support for dish cloth



April 5, 1960 J. E. HUGHES SUPPORT FOR DISH CLOTH Filed Jan. 3, 1957 iNVENTOR JAMES E. HUGHES ATTORNEYS Uni sd States Pat O SUPPORT FOR nrsn CLOTH James E. Hughes, New York, N.Y. Application January 3, 1957, Serial No. 632,327 2 claims. or 211'--41' This invention relates to racks or supports for dish cloths and more particularly to such a support intended for use in combination with a dish drainer disposed in intimate associationwith a sink and drainboard whereby a. wet ,dish cloth. maybe qpported upoii said rackfor drying purposes and the water dripping therefrom will be received within the sink.

Where dishes or the like are cleaned and washed by hand, as in the average household, it is widely recognized that there is no more satisfactory accessory to assist in the washing operation than a simple dish cloth. Despite the particularly widespread use of such items, sinks have neither been designed nor produced to include a suitable support for a wet dish cloth to permit the satisfactory drying thereof after the washing operation has been completed.

Thus, it is common practice to remove surplus water from the dish cloth, as by a wringing operation, and dispose the wet cloth over one of the faucets, the edge of the sink, etc., where in due course drying is accomplished but with certain attendant disadvantages including that the dish cloth is in the way, continues to drip, cannot be retained sanitary and becomes odorous.

Accordingly, it is a major purpose of the present invention to provide a specific support for this every-day, much used item whereby the dish cloth, after use, may be whereby a dish cloth or the like may be spread or placed being understood that in normal use the dish drainer is.

positioned upon the sink drainboard so that the rack and drying dish cloth will overlie the sink per se.

As has been illustrated in the drawing, particular reference being had to Fig. 1, the sink 10 may be of any desired construction and includes an adjacent drainboard.

- portion 11 upon which is received a dish drainer 12. Such rinsed clean and placed or hung upon such support in a neat fashion with all surfaces exposed to air so that the cloth will remain sanitary through repeated usings and with any surplus water remaining in the cloth free to drip into or be received within the sink.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a support of the class set forth which will require no special installation but which may be received and detachably retained upon an edge of a dish drainer or basket-like receptacle.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel rack for a dish cloth which will be relatively small and compact, will be strong and durable, will be pleasing in appearance, and which may be manufactured or produced with particular economy.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating a conventional sink and drainboard with a dish drainer supported thereon, a dish cloth rack in accordance with the present invention being supported upon an edge of the dish drainer;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a dish cloth rack detached;

Fig. 3 is a detail transversesectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and illustrating a dish cloth disposed upon the supporting bar: and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a slightly modified form of the invention.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises a detachable rack intended to be received andisupported upon an edge of a dish drainer, the rack including a supporting bar drainers are produced commercially in varying sizes and of different materials, such as wire, plastic, or the like,

and include peripheral walls 13. The dish cloth rack of the present invention, indicated generally at 14, is de tachably received upon an end wall of a dish drainer,"

occupies but little space and thus conveniently may over-. lie the sink proper.

,In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the dish cloth rack 14 includes a pair of substantially parallel and vertically disposed spaced side members 15 united adjacent the lower extremities thereof by a horizontally disposed cross bar 16, thus providing a U-shaped structure. If desired, side members and cross bar may be produced unitarily from a single piece of sheet material of suitable strength.

The upper extremity of each side member 15 is provided with a down-turned hook-like portion 17 whereby the rack may be supported or retained upon the end wall 13 of the dish drainer 12, the cross bar 16 of the rack engaging the outer surface of the end wall 13.

A dish cloth supporting bar 18 is provided, preferably of U-shaped conformation, the extremities of the legs 19 of said bar being suitably attached or secured to the adjacent side members 15 of the rack in any desired manner, the lengths of the legs 19 being sufiicient to space the bar 18 from the rack per se and end wall of the dish drainer to provide convenient room for hanging and/or removal of the dish cloth therefrom.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, the rack 24 is produced from a length of rod-like material, the side members 25 and cross bar 26 being integral and the upper extremities of the side members being provided with hooked extremities 27 turned outwardly as indicated at 27 to provide for more ready engagement and disengagement with an end wall of a suitable dish drainer. A supporting bar 28 is provided, similar to the bar 18 and having spaced leg portions 29 suitably secured in any desired manner as by welding or the like to the adjacent side members 25.

Utilization of the present invention is particularly simple. As a portion of the dish washing operation, or subsequent to the use of a dish cloth or related article for any purpose, the dish drainer is placed upon the drainboard With an end wall immediately adjacent the sink per se and the novel dish cloth rack of the present invention is then positioned upon the end wall of the drainer or, if desired, the rack may be permitted to remain upon the drainer as a permanent adjunct thereto. The dish cloth is then rinsed clean and hung over the supporting bar 18. Whether or not a wringing operation is performed is of little moment since all surplus water remaining in the dish cloth will drip freely into the sink and cannot cause problems.

The sink remains free for use since the drying cloth is not in the way. Further, the hanging dish cloth is not unsightly and will dry freely with all surfaces eX- posed to the air whereby bacteriological deterioration is prevented. It has been found in practice that the cloth does not become malodorous, even after continued use over particularly extended periods of time and, with more sanitary conditions prevailing, the life of the dish Patented Apr. 5, 1961) cloth is increased materially. The cross bar 16 serves the dual purpose of providing a rigid structure and also bears against the adjacent end wall of the drainer, the additional weight of the we't dish cloth adding to the security of engagement desired between rack and drainer.

It will be obvious to those skilled in this art that various changesfmay be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by' that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification but only as indicated inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a combined dish' drainer and dish cloth support, said dish drainer having vertically disposed side walls, the improvement which comprises dish cloth supporting means detachably mounted upon one of the side walls of said dish drainer, said supporting means comprising'an integrally formed U-shaped member lying"- in' a single plane and providing a horizontally disposed" base portion and vertically disposed side members, hooked upper ex tremities onsaid side members for engagement with a" side wall of said dish drainer, and a U-shaped dish cloth' supporting ba'r carried by said side" members; said sup porting bar having an intermediate portion spaced from the vertical plane of said side members, the extremities of the legs of said supporting bar being attached to the adjacent side members intermediate the lengths thereof, the construction and arrangement being such that the inner surface of the vertically disposed side members and horizontally disposed base portion will engage the wall of the dish drainer when the dish cloth supporting means is positioned thereupon. v

2. A device as set forth in" claim l where said supporting means isformed-f-rom-a single piece of relatively thin sheet material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

